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Tag Archives: Underwater

Lost Gorilla and a Cat…

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The Safari Hunt, known to some of us “experienced divers, as the Gorilla Hunt,” is approaching very quickly………. You need to make sure you get your tanks filled BEFORE you head to the lake, Wednesday or Thursday is the best options to get this done.

As most of you know, your friends at Extreme Sports Scuba, put on a wonderful event every June, now known as “The Safari Hunt”.  Your favorite Instructors, Assistant Instructors, and Dive Masters go to hide various stuffed animal in Beaver Lake for you to find.  There are marvelous prizes for those lucky divers that find one of these animals.  Sadly, however, not all of the stuffed animals are found, well, not found that day.

And so the story begins….

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Safari Hunt Class of 2018

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Safari Hunt Class of 2018

Here is your Safari Hunt Class of 2018

  • Blue monkey: April
  • Brown monkey: George
  • Tiger: LEO
  • Zebra: Martha
  • Pink monkey: Moe
  • Yellow monkey: Molly
  • Giraffe: Myles
  • Panda bear: Roger
  • Black Gorilla: Sally
  • White Gorilla: Samantha

Introducing… Your brand New Safari Hunt High School Class of 2018!!!

Class president; April May… blue monkey: “We have had a great year and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for our future! I would like to thank my mom, my dad, my boyfriend Moe, and everyone that has helped me through these tough years.”

Speaker: “Now introducing our class valedictorian!! Continue reading→

Safari Hunt 2018 Official Rules

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It’s that time of year again… No, I’m not talking about Father’s Day, although don’t forget that June 17, 2018, is Father’s Day. This time though I’m talking about The Annual Safari Hunt!

Yes, it’s time for the Annual Safari Hunt. Make sure your calendars are marked for June 23, 2018.

Details:

  • Start time: 1:30
  • Location: Indian Creek Campground on Beaver Lake in Arkansas.
  • Entry fee: None, but please bring proof of SCUBA certification and you’ll sign a waiver
  • Other details: There will be a fishbowl drawing. Chances are $1 a piece. Proceeds benefit Newton County Rescue and Recovery.

So… what exactly is the Safari Hunt?

You and your dive buddy go SCUBA hunting for animals no deeper than 30 feet. Once you find an animal, you come up and register your number. Then you win a prize. Continue reading→

Work Hard! Play Harder! {Memorial Day 2018 Recap}

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Friday

Memorial Day Weekend always seems to be the “kick off” to the summer season. I guess that’s a good thing since Summer doesn’t officially start until the end of June. We get one month of summer prior to the actual summer solstice! But Memorial Day Weekend also tends to be the start of dive season.

As we learned last week, we’ve already had dive classes in the lake this year, but for the general run our dive season starts Memorial Day Weekend.

This year the top thermocline happened around 15 feet. On Sunday, Drake stuck his arm below the thermocline long enough for his dive computer to read. Then he stuck it above. There was a 9˚ difference. Wow! And you could definitely feel it when you dropped below the thermocline. The next thermocline happened around 28 feet or so. I want to say though, our divers were troopers! Especially our students! Continue reading→

20th Annual Underwater Pumpkin Carving

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It was brought to my attention last week while searching for a blog post that we never did a recap of the Underwater Pumpkin Carving last year. Can someone please explain how this happened? The best explanation that we have come up with is… We had the Chili Cookoff, the next day the underwater pumpkin carving, and then it was off to DEMA. Plus we were gathering recipes/pictures/stories for the cookbook, followed by pictures for the calendar and whew… we just plum forgot.

The question is… why did no one point this out? Last week when we were working on the 2018 Spring Sale Post, I was on the hunt for this blog post, why I can’t remember, but I realized it wasn’t here. So… I figured today would be the perfect day to recap last fall’s underwater pumpkin carving. I mean the weather is similar, right?

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Cozumel Group Trip – February 2018

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Time for a recap of our Cozumel 2 week trip. Grady and I went down to Cozumel a day early so that we could get everything ready for our group before they arrived.

After the group arrived for the first week, they did some shore dives to do weight checks and get comfortable with their equipment before heading out on the boat the next day. Continue reading→

SCUBAPRO Seawing Nova Fins Review

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White Seawing Nova Fins on a diver

I became a certified SCUBA Diver in 1990 as I have shared many times throughout the blog. That means that I have been a certified SCUBA diver for 28 years this year. In that time, I have had the opportunity to dive with multiple different dive gear combinations. Last year we did a feature of our favorite SCUBA Products. One of my favorites was my Black Twin Jet Fins.

A few years ago when the Seawing Nova fins were offered in purple, Nicole bought a pair. Around that time, I started thinking I needed to try them again. They had recently been redesigned, so it was time to give them a try again. Eventually, I bought myself a pair in white. After using those Twin Jet Fins for over 10 years, it is really hard to use a different pair of fins.

As many of you may know, we just returned from a 15-day dive trip to Cozumel in early March. Before I left, I decided to take the White Seawing Nova Fins to try as well as my trusty Black Twin Jet Fins. Continue reading→

Underwater Statues in Cozumel – Ramón Bravo

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Today, let’s cover the last installment of the statues located just off the coast of Cozumel and just to the right from Cozumel Marine World. The first statue we discussed was that of none other than Jacques Cousteau. The Second statue was none other than Sylvia Earle. Finally, the third statue is Ramón Bravo. So sit back, grab a cup of coffee or beverage of choice, and let’s learn about Ramón Bravo.

Underwater Statues in Cozumel

Statue of Famous Diver Ramón Bravo in Cozumel

Ramón Bravo

Ramón Bravo was a Mexican SCUBA diver, photographer, and underwater filmmaker who was born October 21, 1925. Bravo got his claim to fame initially being a famous Mexican swimmer who competed in the 1948 Olympics at just 23 years old.

This love of the water soon brought him to the sport of SCUBA diving. Once he was hooked, he became an underwater photographer, gaining both fame in American and Europe as an oceanographer. An oceanographer is involved in the study of the oceans physical and biological features. Continue reading→

Underwater Statues in Cozumel – Sylvia Earle

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For those of you who went to Cozumel, did you have a good trip? We can’t wait to hear all about it!! Today, I figured we might stay in Cozumel. Last week we discussed the Statues that are underwater near Cozumel Marine World. In fact, we focused on Jacques Cousteau. After that post went live, I got a message that they actually dove that site last Wednesday. How fun is that? Today, let’s look at another one of the statues. Today we’ll focus on Sylvia Earle.

Underwater Statues in Cozumel

Sylvia Earle Statue in Cozumel Mexico

Sylvia Earle

Sylvia Earle was born August 30, 1935, in Gibbstown, New Jersey. As a young child, she and her family moved from New Jersey to Florida. Her parents were outdoors fanatics and ecstatic when she showed an early interest in outdoor exploration. That love led her to earn an associates degree from St. Petersburg Jr. College, a Bachelor of Science degree from Florida State University, a Master’s of Science and Doctorate from Duke University. Continue reading→

Underwater Statues in Cozumel – Jacques Cousteau

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As most of you know (and if not I’m letting you in on a secret) we still have a group trip going on in Cozumel right now. Who is jealous? Especially of those who went for 2 weeks and missed out on the nasty cold weather last week. Since we still have a group in Cozumel, I thought it might be fun to do another post on Cozumel.

Today we’re going to feature the Statues that are underwater just to the right of Cozumel Marine World.

The Statues of Cozumel

Last year when we had a group down there, Deb and I were diving off the shore from the Cozumel Marine World Pier. That day we had a couple different groups go out. Everyone kind of dispersed in multiple directions. Deb and I went right. Not too far from the pier, we came across three statues. We knew one was Jacques Cousteau, but the other two were a mystery. Once we were back, I started doing some research and we found out that the woman statue was Sylvia Earl and the other male statue was Ramón Bravo. So the question is, just who are these people? I’m so glad you guys ask these questions ;).  Today let’s focus on Jacques Cousteau.

Jacques Cousteau

States of Cozumel - Jacques Cousteau

Jacques Cousteau is kind of known as the Father of SCUBA Diving. Continue reading→